She Was Never Mine
by That Old Black Magic
Summary: Second part in the From The Heart series. Sam goes on a mission and gets injured. How well does Jack deal with this? JS drama, angst and hurt. Oneshot.


A/N: This is the second part in the From The Heart series. Can be read as a stand-alone or as part of the series. I'm new to Sg1 fanfiction, so keep that in mind if you find any OOCness in the story. I think that sometimes, Jack can be a bit harsh with words, especially to Sam. That's played out here. If you want, review. I like to hear your opinions. This time, the quote's from How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days.

**Andie**: You can't lose something you never had.

* * *

Many discussions and debates were set for this latest mission and at long last, it was time for SG1 to go. 

Carter was getting suited up and raced to meet her team. She arrived just as the sheer blueness of the shimmery water flashed out into the gate room. Jack looked over at her. "You ready Carter?" he asked her, making his way up the ramp, Sam matching his stride, with Daniel and Teal'c following behind them.

"Yeah, I'm fine. How bout you Sir?" she returned, squaring her shoulders, preparing herself for what was to come.

"We're going into a world that might or might not have hostile aliens who might be in the middle of a war with Snake Boy and the Juniors. I'm great Carter," he said, sarcasm flowing from his every word.

Sam looked away and couldn't even manage a laugh. Always with the sarcasm. Most of the time it was funny, but that last one had just been downright nasty. She felt it had been directed at her.

"You ok Sam?" Daniel asked from behind her, settling his hands on her shoulders. He had heard Jack's words and knew in some way, he had dented Sam's confidence. His eyes narrowed in annoyance at the Colonel. Why couldn't Jack just admit his feelings and stop trying to bury them under harsh words?

"Yeah," she replied, raising a hand and settling it atop one of Daniel's. "I'm ok."

Jack positively growled when he saw Daniel's hand shift and give Sam's fingers a reassuring squeeze before gently whispering into her ear. Jack never heard what was said between them and he was too proud to ask.

Sam heard though. "Don't take his words seriously."

They stepped through the gate, everyone in a foul mood apart from Teal'c, who never understood Earth humour anyway.

* * *

The team had been under fire for two hours now and they were beginning to tire from the constant battle of trying to return to the gate. It turned out that the inhabitants of the planet were all, in fact, under the command of a Go'uld. They didn't want to hear the voice of reason and the plan was to hold SG1 captive. 

"What are they going to do with us?" Sam yelled, ducking behind a large rock.

"You mean if we're caught. Be tortured until we give them information or until we die!" Daniel shouted back, aiming at an enemy Jaffa and shooting a few rounds straight at him.

"Ok kids, those options don't sound good to me, so get dialling and let's get outta here!" Jack threw out into the air, taking a few more shots with Teal'c by his side. He indicated Carter should get moving and start trying to dial Earth. She nodded and quickly ran over and began to dial home, hitting the symbols quickly. Once the gate was open, she sent their code forward to the SGC.

The rest of the team began to move toward the gate while Sam covered their backs, shooting at oncomers. Daniel made it through to the SGC and Teal'c took the DHD off Sam as he passed her, shooting with a zat gun at a particularly close Jaffa.

Jack was still firing at the enemy when the most heart-wrenching noise met his ears. It was the thud of a body, right behind him, hitting the ground. He fired a few more rounds before turning round to see her. Sam was on the ground, blood trickling away near her collarbone on the right side. Her head had fell to one side and she looked deathly pale.

Jack didn't even think about it. He lifted Sam into his arms and propelled himself through the gate, a few seconds before it closed. Jack hit the ramp and rolled before quickly stopping.

He yelled for them to get Janet, a doctor, anyone. Sam's life force seemed to be slipping away. He pressed his fingers to her throat, attempting to stem the bleeding. Her short hair had fell across her face, covering her closed eyes. Jack swept her fringe out of her eyes and continually pushed her hair back, in a desperate fashion.

"Come on Doc. Get here soon," he whispered, as the rest of the base began to crowd round.

* * *

Sam had been rushed to the operating room and Doc Fraiser was still working on her. Jack had tried to go in with her but was quickly pushed out by Janet, saying she needed her space to help Sam. 

Jack sat up in the room that had the window which overlooked the infirmary. Daniel came in to talk with him. Jack amazed Daniel. Sometimes, that man could really hurt his friend's feelings but at other times, he could was so protective of her. Like when the two of them had rolled through the gate there. He wouldn't allow anyone else to touch her until Janet had arrived. The general conclusion of everyone in the corridors had been that it was so no-one removed Jack's hand that was stemming the blood flow of the Major's wound.

Daniel suspected it was something more. Now that Jack was in danger of losing Sam, he wanted to keep her all to himself, as if it was the last time he would get to do so.

"She'll be fine Jack," Daniel said, coming over to gaze as Janet extracted the bullet from Sam's wound near her collarbone. He didn't even know where the enemy had got bullets and guns from. Certainly not from them.

No sarcastic words were aimed at Daniel. Jack just sat there in silence, his eyes never leaving Sam's face. The archaeologist came and sat beside his friend. Jack felt so awful. What if Sam died and his last words to her were those of sarcasm? He could never forgive himself that.

The two men sat in silence, praying with their very souls for Sam to live.

* * *

Sam had left the operating room an hour ago and was now recovering in the infirmary. Janet came an hour after that to tell Jack he could go see her. She explained on the way about her injuries. The bullet hadn't hit her collarbone or any major arteries. She would be a bit sore for a while and have bruises, possibly even scarring but other than that, she was going to be fine. 

Janet explained that Sam would probably be off missions for a few weeks but after that, she would be good to go again. They stopped at Sam's bedside and Jack pulled up a chair. Janet quietly closed the door behind her and left him to it.

For the next three hours Jack sat there, just gazing at her face. She was going to live. Apparently all his praying had worked. His back and his leg were bothering him, the amount of time he'd been sitting in one position.

But he didn't care. He just wanted to see her wake up. And he got his wish. She was beginning to stir. Jack rose to his feet just to see her open her eyes in time.

"Sam," he smiled down at her, his heart rejoicing at seeing her blue eyes open again.

"Yeah," she said weakly, reaching slowly out for his hand.

They chatted quietly, until Sam was fully awake. Then they spoke for a while longer until Sam joked, "You almost lost me out there then?"

Jack would never know what caused him to say this. Was it all his restrained worry eventually showing on the surface? Or was this his way of trying to distance himself from the immense emotions he'd been feeling since she was shot, the ones of absolute doom and heartbreak at the thought of her death?

The words slipped out before he'd even thought about it. "You can't lose something you never had."

And with that, he removed his hand from hers and left the room. And Sam's heart broke at the cruelty of those seven words. She began to sob.


End file.
